"Alice," Mom asked, as I arrived home from school. "I just noticed this… but what's that on your arm?"
"Oh!" I exclaimed, noticing my band-aid, where Captain Crawfish had sliced my arm (I was wearing a t-shirt that day). "Uh… I cut my arm on the locker door." I lied, biting my lip. I knew sooner or later I was going to have to tell my mom about Poptropica. I'd actually been preparing to tell her, but fear got the better of me (or I forgot) and I never got around to it.
"You've been… acting strange lately, Alice," my mother said, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Mom never really yelled at me, unless she was in a panic. She was good like that, but that didn't stop her from getting suspicious. "Is something wrong?"
Oh, no, I'm being hunted down by various villains who want to kill me to gain what they call immortality in a computer game. Everything's swell. "No, just… a little tired, I guess." I answered quickly. Then I exited before Mom could ask more questions.
"My brother Manny is missing!" a boy- and fellow human- Greg exasperated as we landed on Wimpy Wonderland. The island looks like it has been drawn on lined paper (which it probably has), and every character is black and white. Scratch that, everything's black and white, like in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which is what the island's based on.
"Where do you think he might be?" I asked, despite knowing where Manny was.
"I don't know," Greg answered. He wears black and white winter clothing, a flowing scarf, and has three hairs on the back of his circle-shaped head. He's lanky: a different shape from Poptropicans. Boy, it's freaky. He's the closest thing on Poptropica to a human (well, he IS a human, like me, though I didn't look very human), which means humans do indeed exist on Poptropica. I wondered why Fierce Fox didn't know what humans were when I told her. Memory being wiped? I didn't know.
Greg continued, "Maybe we should go back to the house and look for clues." I gave him a nod, and we set off to Greg's house.
Greg's house is a two-storey, typical family home. I've read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, when I was around ten or eleven, and the island's a good representation of the book's chaos. Reading the books had given me a faint idea of what the house appeared like, and the Poptropica island gave me the exact reference.
"Maybe there are some clues in the house!" Greg said, thinking about his missing brother, while Fierce Fox and I climbed the stairs. I entered someone's room and grabbed an address book. Then, we entered Manny's room, which is pretty much the room you'd expect from a young child. The window's open at the back above some drawers, which is how Manny escaped.
"Greg is one bad caretaker." I sighed; Fierce Fox grinned. I climbed through the window and landed on the snowy roof, which is covered in footprints. Naturally, Fierce Fox and I followed them. They led us over a snowy hill, past a few more houses and a snowman. Snow trickles down from the sky, not affecting me at all (of course).
We stopped nearby a slightly chubby boy, who like everyone else in this island, is wearing a winter attire. His name's Rowley, and he's the best friend of Greg. We spoke to him for a bit, when Manny riding Rowley's rumble bike drove past and knocked us out.
Fierce Fox and I pursued the rumble bike trails, which led to a pile of snow with a bike sticking out. I picked it up and spotted Manny ahead. I gave Fierce Fox the fun job of chasing after Manny. Remember how I've been saying Fierce Fox is athletic and all? Well, she's nothing compared to Greg's little brother. And he's human.
I saw Manny leap off a tree and land in some poor kid's snowman, turning it into a mushed pile of snow. The kid's mother let me have the carrot nose, just as Fierce Fox hopped down from the tree. Then we headed over to the school, which is kind of similar to mine. Well, not really, since mine's more of a grey, cement building. This one's made of bricks, and shows more age and deterioration. Immediately we spotted Manny, the crazy gymnast he is, leaping up the building and sneaking into the school.
Once Manny was gone, I headed to the side of the school. There's a pine tree, its branches covered in snow. I picked up a discarded piece of paper on the tree, then focused on a see-saw. Fierce Fox shoved a bin onto one end of the see-saw, while I leaped onto the other. The bin was flung onto the school's first roof, below the second layer. Fierce Fox followed me as I pushed the bin across the snow-covered roof, until I was under a window. Then we entered.
Our good friend Manny squeaked when he spotted us and took a runner, racing down the school halls and stairs. Of course we couldn't catch him. But it didn't matter- we'd get him later. For now, the two us stopped in front of a wall of lockers. Fierce Fox's eye twitched- the last time she opened a locker, she was welcomed with a barrage of papers, which I found most amusing. I opened the locker this time (feeling nostalgia from my own locker), and a Twisted Wizard game guide popped into my inventory.
We exited Greg's school and returned to his house. Being the slacker he is, he was playing Twisted Wizard. I mean, I know the characters you meet in Poptropica islands don't necessarily help you, but this is ridiculous.
Regardless, I handed him the game guide, and he agreed that if we bet the level, he would help us (or so we hoped). Twisted Wizard is pretty simple- you have to build a wall around yourself, and defend yourself from enemies by smiting them with your wand. It's a solitary game, but Fierce Fox helped out anyway, and we won.
Greg told us to take the game disc back to his friend Rowley. So Fierce Fox and I went over to Rowley's house, but the poor thing was trapped inside, due to his dad not letting him out. I hopped onto the family car; it made a pandemonium of noises. Then, grabbing Fierce Fox by her lighting staff, we jumped into a bush and hid. Rowley's dad came out to investigate the sound; we sneaked into his house and Rowley's bedroom.
"We found your rumble bike," I said to Rowley, who was swinging his legs around. "And here's your game back!" His face lit up as he received his game. I couldn't help but have a soft spot for the kid- he's pretty adorable and youthful, unlike the crazies at my school. And Greg.
"Yay! Thank you!" Rowley cried gleefully. "And take this as a thank you gift!" He handed me a Joshie Fan Club Membership card. We bid him farewell and left his house, returning to Greg the slacker's. At the left side of the house, there's a room, which had a locked door. I used the fan club card on the door; it opened like magic. Fierce Fox, with my instruction, headed into the room, and to the electricity box. She pressed a button inside the box, which turned off the electricity for Rodrick's room. Rodrick, incase you didn't know, is Greg's older brother.
Rodrick stopped jamming out (which created a huge ruckus) and exited the house, taking his van with him. Fierce Fox and I infiltrated his messy room. I picked up an orange dog bowl (which, yes, is in colour), that said 'Sweaty' on it. I glanced at Rodrick's… interesting room: his messy bed; disturbing posters; litter on the floor. Then we left his room (which is down in a basement), and exited Greg's house. Fierce Fox noticed Rodrick's van was gone, and I tried not to groan at the fact I already knew.
We entered the garage. Another coloured item was hanging on the wall- a leaf blower. I swiped it down, then handed Fierce Fox my carrot. With my instruction again, she headed outside and placed the carrot on a snowman's nose, who in fact was not a snowman at all, but instead a boy known as Fregley. Holding up the leaf blower like I was some sort of mad scientist, I blew the snow off Fregley.
"You should never build a snowman from the inside out!" Fregley exclaimed blissfully. I gave Fierce Fox a look. But then again, we all have weird habits. "Here's a token of my gratitude." Fregley said, holding out a bingo troll. "He's my only friend." I felt a little guilty for taking Fregley's 'only friend', but we needed it to complete the island.
After that, we headed right until we came to an aged-care home called Leisure Towers. The only time I've ever been to an aged care home is when we went see my grandfather, but that was when I was six and I don't really remember it. And now we were going to see Greg's grandfather, who lives in an apartment.
Since we couldn't really go in the reception and use the lift (like I wanted to anyway), we had to jump up the building, using the window ledges. That's kind of illegal in my world, but yet again, this is Poptropica. Oh, and the residents kept chucking stuff down at us. Either they thought we were criminals having a break in, or they were just plain mean. Probably a mix of both.
Eventually, we made it to Greg's grandpa's apartment (I got hit a few times by cooking pots, not something I wanted to relive). Greg's grandfather was snoozing on a chair, in front of an 80s television. He flipped out when he saw us, though he quickly got over his surprise.
"Where is Manny?" I asked him, as if we'd been talking for an hour.
"I'll tell you over lunch!" Greg's granddad replied. Fierce Fox got the wonderful experience of eating his watercress salad, which is just about as delightful as drinking the stink bomb from Big Nate Island. And, being witness to the smell of the stink bomb, I can tell you that it's not something you want to be around.
Finally, the disgusted Fierce Fox finished the watercress salad (I couldn't help but feel bad for her), Greg's grandfather told us about Manny.
"I'll tell you where I saw Manny," he said. "On the Leisure Towers security camera!" A screen flashed before my eyes, showing the escapee toddler riding on a scooter. I began to wonder if this kid was human or an extraterrestrial species. Greg's grandfather grinned. "Why, there he is! He's right in front of the building!" I gave Fierce Fox a look; we exited his apartment. We came to a lift, climbed aboard (much to my dismay) and rode it down to reception, then left Leisure Towers.
We were back outside again, the snow still trickling down. The two of us moved right, where we were barraged by snowballs, thrown by the Whirley Street Kids. Unfortunately, we had to run through the snowball storm to get a snow shovel. I raced forward, though many snowballs hit me, covering my long-sleeve in snow. I was flung backwards, knocked out briefly, though I was back to myself in less than a second. Fierce Fox did the same as I, shoving through the snowball storm.
To help Fierce Fox out a bit, I stood in front of her, acting like a shield. I got way too many snowballs to the face, yet I didn't get frostbite. Fierce Fox's crafty fingers reached out and grabbed the snow shovel, just as a cloud of more snowballs zoomed towards us. They launched us back, and just in time, because I was sick of snowballs. It made me wonder how those kids could throw such an amount.
"Whew!" Fierce Fox exasperated, once we were out of their sight. "Those Whirley Street Kids are too much for me!"
I retorted, "Says the girl who rescued me from falling off cliffs, fell into the River Styx and survived, was blasted back by paper in Nate's locker, fought the Hydra, saved me from a falling elevator, went into an active volcano-"
"Alright, alright, point taken." Fierce Fox chuckled, waving her hands.
"Let's go clean Greg's Gramma's driveway." I said, skipping off to the left.
We had to do quite a bit of running, but eventually we made it to Greg's Gramma's house. We cleaned out her driveway (for the first time being around snow on Poptropica, I got cold) and then the old woman drove over to bingo, though she agreed to keep an eye out for Manny. Of course, we had to follow after her, because we needed a prize from the bingo game. That meant going back to good old Leisure Towers.
The two of us passed the elevator, and entered a spacious room. Many elderly women are playing bingo in this room; bingo cards cover the tables. Fierce Fox and I, using Fregley's 'friend', joined in. Since there were two of us, winning at bingo was so much easier. We pretty much won in the first round, though Fierce Fox received the credit and the grand prize- a classical music CD. Not much of a prize to me (I'd rather have a Poptropica membership or at least money), but it was going to help us complete the island.
We exited Leisure Towers and raced across the snow, approaching a little grocery store. A bunch of teenagers were outside. They were bitter to us, and treated us like we were little kids. I told Fierce Fox to ignore them, and we headed inside the store. The owner grouchily complained about the adolescents outside, which was understandable. I used the classical music CD on the music speaker (which is for outside), and the change of music made the teenagers leave in disgust. The shopkeeper was pleased with our help and handed us a Freez-it cleaner (cleaning stuff).
The cleaner would come in use for a guy's truck; his windshield had been frozen up. With help from the Sweaty dog bowl, we measured the correct amount of fluid the guy would need to clean his windshield. We gave it to him. He cleaned his windshield, then decided it was time for a coffee break.
"I wonder where Greg went." Fierce Fox wondered, once he left.
"He's being helpful and playing video games," I sighed as an answer. "And I thought I was a bad procrastinator."
Likewise to what I said, Greg the slacker was indeed playing video games. I grumbled and opened a curtain nearby him, sending a shower of light into the room.
"Ouch… the light!" Greg cried, as if he was a vampire.
"Count Bram? Is that you?" I asked sarcastically. "You're a few islands early." Greg and Fierce Fox gave me a look. "Never mind."
"Uh… anyway, Manny's probably looking for his blanket, Tingy," Greg said, standing up. "If we can find Tingy, we can find Manny!"
"Why didn't you just say so…" I mumbled, as Fierce Fox and I exited Greg's house. As soon as we stepped into the snowy area that is outside, Manny drove past us- yes, drove- in the truck we cleaned the windshield of. You've gotta be kidding me… I thought, watching Manny drive away.
The sad thing is I can't drive, yet a flipping three year old can. We pursued the truck, and came to a laundromat, where the truck was parked. Fierce Fox and I entered the laundromat, gazing at all the washing machines. At the back of the room, Manny was cuddling his precious Tingy.
"Tingy!" he cried, in exuberance and affection.
"Great, you found him!" Greg cried, suddenly appearing in the room. "But we need to get home before Mom gets back from work!" Thanks to Poptropican physics, we were all teleported nearby the houses. It looked fine until our old friends the Whirley Street Kids showed up to barrage us with snowballs. Greg turned to Fierce Fox and I. "Help me push this snowball!" We did just that; it rolled down the hill, increasing in size and swallowing up the stupid kids. And then we started sledding down the hill.
I shared a sled with Manny and Fierce Fox, while Greg rode solo on his own sled. Our sled zoomed up and down on the snow, jumping over mountains and passing snow-covered bushes. Fierce Fox was driving, so we were doing pretty well. I, however, was covering my face, to avoid getting snow in my hair. Manny was chilling out, having a good time with Tingy.
Some of the Whirley Street Kids had resurfaced (somehow), and were throwing snowballs at us.
Fierce Fox steered onto a ramp, and we sailed over them. I groaned as we thumped back onto the snow, though Fierce Fox showed no signs of slowing down. The sled proceeded, and we leaped in the air another time to jump over a dead bush. My fingers continued to claw my clothes, while the sled bobbed up and down roughly. Then, we approached another ramp, and flew into the air…
We miraculously survived, just as Greg's mom returned home from work. Thank Poptropican physics and Fierce Fox's incredible driving skills.
"I knew I could trust you to keep an eye on Manny, Greg!" Greg's mom said gleefully.
"Of course you could, Mom!" Greg replied. Yeah right, I thought. All you did was play stupid video games and make me consider if you're related to vampires. Greg turned to us. "Thanks for bailing me out, guys! I think I owe you this!" He handed Fierce Fox the island medallion. My vision flashed white, and I bid everyone farewell, wiping snow off my clothes.
"Is that a snowflake in your hair?" Mom asked, as I came down the stairs. I ran my fingers through my short, pale blonde hair, pulling out the icy fragment.
"No," I answered. "I don't see any snowflakes. It's not even cold outside."